prices are high because we have to fly north to Miami first, and THEN we pay what you do to get from Miami to Central America. Same on the return. Heck, if I was still current I would just fly myself. But my pilots licenses are all rusty.
you know, one of the things I have found out in all my travels, and now living abroad among a whole lot of people from other countries is that people in the US tend to think that we have the best of everything there, and that the rest of the world is somewhat substandard.
Well, this is partially true, but not totally. The USA does have the best technology that exists anywhere, in most things. But this does not mean that this technology does not exist in other places, too. And in some technologies, the USA is a little blinded to the reality that other countries are passing us by. Look at the automobile industry. Or the motorcycle industry ( sorry England, but you, too.) Look at consumer electronics. Other nations build airplances every bit as good as Boeing or MD. We are not the only nation in space, by a long shot.
I guess what I am saying is that I am finding doctors in other countries who I think might just be as good as docs in the US. There are some in India, who meet the criteria of people posting here that want to see a few thousand TKRs a year.
I have located a doc in Costa Rica that is very, very well thought of by his patients, and I have already had some email exchanges with some of them. Talk about glowing endorsements, of the hospital, the staff, and the results. By Canadians, who have health care covered, but don't feel like waiting years just to get it done in Canada, for example.
I have just been communicating with some people who are familiar with the Hospital Angeles in Tijuana, and here is another center of excellent care. Cost? What will cost $ 50,000 in San Diego will cost $ `13,000 just a half hour's drive south of there. Modern, state of the art. And the patient private rooms blow US hospitals away!
SO, I guess I am not nearly as nervous about going elsewhere, out of the USA, for medical help, if I have to. Heck, I went elsewhere for my life, and have not regretted it for a second!
Costa Rica is still in first place for convenience, cost, and happy faces.